Sofia, Dec 19 (BTA/GNA) – Bulgaria will provide financial support to Nigeria to produce vaccines, the Bulgarian Embassy in the West African country said on Monday. On December 16 in Abuja, Ambassador Yanko Yordanov signed an agreement on grant aid under an EU project to promote the production of vaccines in Nigeria and make them more accessible. On behalf of the beneficiary, Nigeria’s National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), the agreement was signed by Martins Emeje, a representative of Director General Obi Peter Adigwe.
The project is part of the EU Team Europe initiative for manufacturing of, and access to, vaccines, medicines and health technologies in Africa (TEI MAV+).
Yordanov said this is the first cooperation-for-development project between Bulgaria and Nigeria and the first time that Bulgaria participates in a Team Europe undertaking in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is part of the joint efforts of Bulgaria and Nigeria to add impetus to their relations, including in scientific research and applied science.
On behalf of NIPRD, the only pharmaceutical research agency in West and Central Africa, Prof. Emeje thanked Bulgaria for funding a project of great significance for Nigeria and the whole region. He said NIPRD works on the production of vaccines through synthesis of natural products derived from African plant species, with a focus on fighting the most common tropical diseases.
BTA/GNA